Sunday, March 23, 2025
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Handling Essences — The Highest Art
Handling Essences — The Highest Art
YouTube Video
Martin Cecil August 2, 1979 Assembly
Lillian made a comment, when she was speaking this morning, with respect to herself as being responsible for the essences, related to music—but of course her responsibility for essences goes considerably beyond that. There must be those who take responsibility for essences. This Assembly is gathered here to do that, to gain experience in handling the responsibility of essences. Only as there are those who are capable of doing this do we have any ministry, is there the possibility of a living body, a living organism of many people. Somehow the essences must be taken care of.
In the initial stages of this ministry it was a matter of handling both essences and forms, by those concerned, simply because there were so few. We all have some responsibility for handling forms but our primary responsibility is for handling essences. And we cannot handle forms as they should be handled without effectiveness in handling essences. The fact that restoration is possible is so because finally there may be present on earth those who are capable of handling the essential essences by which this occurs. We well know that it doesn’t occur by manipulating forms. It occurs because there are those forms which follow the essences. If there are no essences to follow, the forms are left leaderless. The Master said something about the harvest being ripe, but there were few who were capable of reaping the harvest. Pray that these might put in an appearance, because there could be no harvesting without them. Reference is here made to those who would be capable of assuming responsibility for essences and handling them rightly.
Here is the area of our responsibility, primarily. We all have certain forms which come within the range of our responsibility as well. But as there has been a differentiation of responsibility because there have been more people who have offered themselves for this, then clearly there are those within the developing body who are primarily responsible for essences and those who are primarily responsible for forms. Here is the differentiation—at least in this regard. Whenever we touch upon these things it looks as though, for the moment, there are just two fields: essences and forms. But of course we discover that there is far more than that because the essences themselves have to be handled on a differentiated basis.
We realize that the substance by which the handling of essences is made possible must be generated. We also realize that it is the substance which properly finds its place at all levels. And there are many levels—the level of what we call form is one level of substance but it is only one. We have noted before that it is the smallest area in fact. There is far more substance occupying the space provided by all the other levels. This is so, regardless of us. But within the range of our field of responsibility and within the range of the responsibility of man as a whole there is clearly a very specific design.
We have before noted that we have very specific bodily forms; each one of us has a body. This is very specific. And, while related to each body there is rightly substance of a different nature filling out the wholeness of all levels in the individual sense, we also may recognize that there is this substance present relative to the whole of creation, which has very little to do with human beings. But there is something specific for which we are obviously responsible. And that comes to focus individually in our individual physical forms and expands out from that. We discover that our individual forms are part of a larger physical form which is capable of acting in a coordinated manner by reason of our individual physical forms. We all have something to do at that level, the physical level. But we find that various individuals have specific responsibilities related to other levels, related to essences, as I have called this.
Now these essences are brought to us. We may recognize that there is the substance, for the generation of which we are responsible. This substance, particularly the finer ranges of this substance, plus spirit, may be said to compose essence. Here are the essences which are rightly tools in our hands as incarnate angels. These essences are to be rightly used, and we are responsible for this right use; therefore we are responsible for essences. I am thinking of this in particular relationship to our association in this Assembly. We have to narrow it down a bit, bring it to focus relative to our immediate responsibility. And our immediate responsibility is primarily at the level of essences. We couldn’t handle what is required at the level of those essences if we were not incarnate in physical form. There would be no substance available at the levels required. It is because we are incarnate in physical form that we have a generator, we might say, by which the essential substance of essences may be generated to fill out the whole design—which is our means of handling our responsibilities in a total sense here on earth.
There are some who are primarily responsible at the form end of the spectrum, others who are primarily responsible at the essence end of the spectrum. Now our responsibility relates to the essence end of the spectrum more particularly in this present formation. We always have, of course, some responsibility in this regard in the individual personal sense. But here is something emerging of the Assembly substance, to make it possible for essences to be handled by us. Now this has been going on whether anybody has recognized it specifically or not. Because it has been going on in some measure I am bringing it out now, because there is substance to begin to bring it out. From the standpoint of human nature, the idea might be, "Well why didn’t you bring it out right at the start? Then we could have really got to work." Well I was not exactly waiting but hopeful, shall we say, that you would get to work so that there would be some substance so that it could be brought out. We need to get things the right way around and not, as human nature insists upon doing most of the time, trying to make things work backwards. So we have some substance generated and we can begin to see this in terms of essences.
As I say, in the initial formation of this ministry Uranda and later I were very much involved not only with essences but with forms because there was no other way of handling things. There was no one else who could take responsibility primarily relative to forms, because those who do take primary responsibility relative to forms must have a sufficient experience of essences to do it. But there are those who have the primary responsibility with respect to essences. And we are it now in this particular formation.
So, in handling these essences we find that essences are brought to us. We might say that our inheritance is essences. Heretofore we have talked about circumstances—the circumstances that are brought to us—because the general view of circumstances has been that they were forms. Now we are beginning to recognize that, while there are forms present, the important aspect of what is brought to us relates to essences. Essences are being brought to us to be handled by us. As long as we were involved with the forms, and reacting to the forms, and emotionally disturbed or whatever by the forms, we were incapable of discerning the essences. So obviously something had to happen relative to our letting go of involvement with the forms.
A balance obviously is essential here, because human nature, which is still on hand, tends to swing to extremes—“Oh, we’ve got to let go of forms”—swing over to the extreme of something else which is unknown at that point anyway, and people do stupid things. This is what has produced the idea that spiritual people are very impractical people, useless in fact in the world. Perhaps in some other world somewhere they may be fine. But I have yet to be aware of what that other world is where they would be fine, because this is the world; it’s here. And if mention is made of the world to come it’s not another world separate and apart from this world. There is just one world in fact, which appears one way in human experience and is another way in reality.
Our concern is to let that reality emerge in human experience. The only way that this can be done is to be aware of the basic elements of the true world. And we may speak of these now as essences, because it is in the handling of these essences that we do what is necessary to allow the real world to emerge through the consciousness and into the experience of human beings. This is what has been happening to you, presumably. But we have a responsibility for others. And so this inheritance is brought to us. Heretofore we have looked upon what was being brought to us as the forms of circumstances. But that isn’t really what is being brought to us. The essences of the circumstances are being brought to us for handling.
Now how do we receive the inheritance? We were looking at this before. Usually the forms are judged and if the forms are pleasing, one may welcome the inheritance with some enthusiasm. But if the forms are not so pleasing then there is some reluctance and probably definite rejection involved with respect to the circumstances. But we are looking beyond the circumstances; we are looking at the essences that are being brought. We have before had an awareness of the importance of running to meet the Lord. And no doubt we have translated that in some fashion in our consciousness. But let us see it with respect to the Lord bringing these essences to us, offering us our inheritance. How enthusiastically do we receive our inheritance?—not merely the forms of it but the essences that are present by reason of those forms, because we see how forms and essences are always associated. After all, the substance which composes the essence was generated out of the form. But to deal effectively with the form we must deal with the essence first. So we need to be alert then. We need to have an adequate spiritual discernement so that we can begin to recognize what the essences are. And we delight to receive that.
Now something else was brought out while Lillian was speaking in musical terms, and that is this matter of dissonance as being an essential part of what we might call the symphony of life. The dissonance needs to be resolved into the harmony. And we see in this something we already understand relative to good and evil—these are a part of the creative process. There is movement through the evol to the point of good. And the point of good is the initiation of a new aspect of the creative cycle, and moves again into evol. If we correlate these two states with dissonance and harmony, then we keep moving from one to the other. And we do not object to the dissonance. It is all part of the creative process.
So when the essences which come to us have dissonant elements in them, we do not object to that. We see that this is part of the unfolding symphony and we have to make use of the dissonant sounds in order to allow a resolution to occur in its proper seasons when there may be the experience of the good, the harmony. But we see that resolution as only being made possible by reason of the dissonance which preceded it. There is the process of resolution and then there is the resolution when that process is complete to that extent. It’s complete to that extent in order to provide a starting point for the next aspect of unfoldment. So let us not fasten our eyes on the forms of circumstances so that we totally ignore the essences of those circumstances which are the inheritance being brought to us.
And we need to welcome the inheritance, portrayed by running to meet the Lord. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/trembling-to-obey.html] If you have an honored guest coming you, I’m sure, would not be inclined to say, "Well he’s coming; he has to take potluck with us." You prepare something, don’t you? You put yourself out. You do things perhaps that you otherwise would not be doing. And because it is in anticipation of the arrival of the honored guest you delight to do it. It’s a wonderful experience to work through all the dissonant factors. This is all undertaken with great joy and it brings satisfaction in the doing. Sometimes the satisfaction is more in that than the end result, in the human-nature world, because it may not work out just the way you had hoped; sometimes honored guests are not all that thoughtful.
But from our standpoint we know who the honored guest is. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/entertain-lord.html] Here is the Lord, emerging into His world. And He does so through the inheritance which He provides for us. And so these essences are brought to us to handle. One could see this relative to preparing the way of the Lord and making His paths straight. We do this in the handling of the essences. When Abraham ran to meet the Lord from his tent door he was just delighted, and inquired a little as to what would be pleasing to his guests. Then he hurried away and made sure that his wife and his servants were doing what they should do to provide what was needful. This portrays something magnificently of our momentary experience. So many people have been hung up on forms, hopeful that the forms would change shape so that they would be more pleasing than they were before, but pleasing to oneself. One’s concern with respect to forms is that they should be pleasing to the Lord, and that is pleasing to oneself simply because it is pleasing to the Lord.
But for the forms to be that way, the essences must have been handled rightly first. It seems very few people have recognized that their circumstances carried with them essences which were to be received with delight so that substance might be enthusiastically generated, in whatever it was one was doing. How much there still is of reluctance in this regard: “Let me get through this task,” very often even “so that I may have time for myself.” Who are you? The only person who wants time for himself, in that sense, is the human ego—in other words, an endeavor to escape so that there may be a reversion back into the hog trough.
We do need to have space into which the essences may come and where they may be handled. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/passion.html] And we need to see this with respect to others; others need to have space in this regard too. This was brought out relative to the field of music, by Lillian—that those who have some starting point of spiritual essences in their experience need to have space in order that more substance may be generated. Unfortunately, when space is provided for this, human nature says, “Ah, how nice, this is time for myself,” and they go off and do the things that they want to do in human nature and they never use the available space which was there to receive these essences. We need to see this for ourselves, because if we are responsible primarily for essences we are going to need space. If, when the space is offered, we immediately begin to fill it up with the human nature factors, we have ducked out of our responsibility for essences and we become useless.
In one way or another there has on occasion been much of this because fundamentally, while we say there are those who are dominantly responsible for forms and others who are dominantly responsible for essences, in either situation we couldn’t function without the essences. And so those who are doing the tasks that are necessary—there have to be those who work in the office, who work in the kitchen, who do cleaning and the laundry, and the other things, obviously so. Those who are primarily responsible in those particular fields are dealing with forms. But there is the necessity of recognizing that they can’t deal with those forms except through the essences.
That is the way that forms are handled from our standpoint. We are out of the manipulation business. We are going to handle everything through the essences. And what is necessary in form will come through on the basis of this and not because we manipulated it. This is rather an exciting business actually, because the forms reveal things that we didn’t know they were going to reveal. And we see that and we delight in that; we see the changes coming in this way in form. But still we don’t judge it, because we are still concerned with essences. And even if a person is working in the heat of the kitchen and preparing a meal and all this form is right in front of that person, he has to handle it. But the only basis on which he can handle it effectively is because he is conscious of the essences in that particular circumstance. So it is not a matter of just slapping the form around.
One is dealing with the essences in a very artistic way. When we work with essences we find that we necessarily are artists. There are artists in the field of blacksmithing, for instance, even though that might be looked upon as very definitely a form area of function. After all, if one if making horseshoes, you have the iron and you are heating it and hammering, you’re dealing with the form. But if you have ever seen an expert blacksmith there is a rhythm and a dance to it; there is the evidence of artistry. If a person goes into some field of activity such as that, or cooking in the kitchen, or office work—whatever—with the idea that all it is a matter of manipulating forms, and if the thing won’t work, well you hit it with the largest hammer you have and then it will work, you will destroy a great deal. And you won’t certainly become a blacksmith, or whatever, because one must be aware of the essences, always, first.
One may need to learn some techniques with respect to form but these are only available to translate essences. And this is our concern. Even if one is hammering something with a heavy hammer and it takes a lot of muscle, there is a delicacy to it. You hit it exactly right. It’s not just “Well any old bang will do.” You have to hit it exactly right. Now I use the blacksmith because that is a good illustration of something apparently very forceful in the area of form. But we can see that it never becomes useful as an art until whoever is operating in that field becomes conscious of the essences. And of course, generally speaking, those who do become proficient in such fields are not aware of what is happening but they do become conscious of the essences. There are many people who think of themselves as cooks, who certainly shouldn’t have that title because they have never awakened to the essences of cooking.
There are essences behind all forms. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-dominion-of-essences.html] Whenever the inheritance of form is brought to us the essences are brought too, if we can discern them. And it is our responsibility to be able to discern them so that we may handle these essences intelligently. If we handle the essences intelligently the form will take care of itself. This is not to say that we don’t need to turn over the eggs. We’re part of the form taking care of itself.
Now here is a secret of which you have been aware for a long time. But I wonder whether you have been aware of it in a practical sense—whether these essences have not been seen in terms of spirit separate from substance. Most human beings look at spirit in that way. They do not see that it is only known by reason of the substance in which it may make itself known. And spirit, making itself known in substance when it is there, we speak of as this matter of essences. We could use other terms I suppose; we could say the Holy Ghost. Here is spirit in oneness with the essential substance. Now we are able to handle essences which are brought to us because of the essences that are present in us. Essence relates to essence.
How beautiful life is! How beautiful the experience of creative work is, the work for which we are responsible. But we need to understand the internal facilities that are available to us, and also how to deal with the external factors that are brought to us. It is because we have internal facilities that we can handle the essences that are brought to us. If we do not have it internally we can’t do anything about it externally. It is because we have generated the substance of connection that the substance of action can spill over into our field of action. And we can begin to handle effectively the essences which are our inheritance. We see these essences as being part of the creative cycle, and there is no need to judge what they are. They are contained within the true evil, and we are not going to eat of the forbidden fruit anymore. We receive what is brought to us.
So all things are made new by reason of essences, not by reason of forms, except insofar as the forms have a part to play in moving with those essences, and in some instances, of course, generating the substance which permits the essence to be present. This is true of our own human forms. So here we are together with perhaps something of a new awareness of what it is we are properly doing and how we may handle it. It may be said that you know all these things—they have been talked about for years. But now they begin to come into an actual experienceable state insofar as we are concerned, because something is being allowed to happen. “Behold, I make all things new.” We are responsible for this. And it can only be done on the basis of these fundamental essences.
And so in this particular configuration you have been drawn together to provide a facility for the handling of essences. It is not first and foremost for the handling of forms, is it? You have some forms to handle; we all do. But our reason for being present in this particular setting, in this particular enfoldment, is to be responsible for essences, to provide space for those essences to be brought to us and to allow the generation of substance in ourselves individually and together so as to provide the internal essences, which is the tool or the handle we use in dealing with the external essences. The blacksmith can deal with iron by using iron. We deal with essences by using essences. And this is indeed the highest art.
Within the range of the body which is developing there are those who are primarily responsible for essences. This may vary. Maybe we will swap places sometime! But you are the ones who are here. So there is a great flexibility and easy movement when we are dealing with essences, but now we have the responsibility. We are here. We are responsible for the essences.
And when we do handle our responsibility for essences rightly and intelligently we will find that we handle forms rightly and intelligently, and they will reflect what it is that is occurring from the standpoint of essences. But still we don’t judge the form. We are looking at the essence. We know why the form is doing that, because we know what is happening in the essences. So there is no reason to judge the form—there is no incentive any more to judge the form. Let it alone; it’s behaving itself. Just be concerned that the essences are right and what they should be in the particular pattern that is unfolding.
And never be afraid of dissonance. Don’t jump immediately to the conclusion that if there seems to be some dissonance in the essences it is somehow wrong, that it has to be manipulated around somehow so as to make it all nice again, comfortable. Human beings like to be comfortable. It is sometimes good to be a little uncomfortable, isn’t it? We do things that are uncomfortable, we do them deliberately. We don’t object. If there are some uncomfortable things from the standpoint of essences, that’s all right. We learn how to recognize what it is that is happening, what it is that is moving. And we are not going to interfere with it. We’re going to let it move, we’re going to enhance that movement in one way or another. This is not to say we’re enhancing dissonance. We are simply enhancing the movement that is occurring, the movement which in fact is passing through the period of resolution, that it may come to the harmonious conclusion of that period. When you get to the harmonious conclusion, that may be a time when you can breathe a sigh, and say “Isn’t that wonderful?” But you wouldn’t want to stay there forever. It gets very uncomfortable. There is something else to do.
And so we keep moving through these cycles of good and evil. We understand what is happening. We’re not in a battle with anything. We begin to find ourselves in the position of authority because we are handling essences. That is the authority. The authority is not trying to impose something on forms but simply to handle the essence. According to the way the essence is handled, so will the form will come along, and you didn’t have to beat it into submission with a hammer. So it’s good to be aware of the true purpose of man, which is not based in the sweat of his face. A little sweat of the face sometimes is all right, keeps the physical form healthy. But in the achievement of our purpose it is not by the sweat of the face. It is by the right use of essences. That’s the way.
Things are unclear, not because of themselves, but because of the focus of the one who is observing them. We need to recognize this. And we learn how to let the focus of our view change according to the need. Some people seem to be stuck in one focus that enables them to see something that is right off the end of their nose, and everything else is blurred. Things a little further away, there is some sort of shape there that they can see, but get beyond that and it’s a complete fog. Well is that the fault of what is out there? Of course not! It’s out there, it’s clear-cut. The trouble is in the focus of vision of the individual who observes. And we need to develop the ability to change our focus, so that we can see right here if we need to but we can look out there just as easily and see clearly what it is that is out there. So one could say that, relative to essences, there has been a state of stuckness, and there has been a certain amount of fear. People feel themselves to be safer with forms. You’re not really safe in that field, as lots of people find out day by day. One is safe only when one is functioning correctly from the standpoint of essences.
© emissaries of divine light
Monday, March 17, 2025
Precedents Of Victory—Transcendent Nation
Precedents Of Victory
“Transcendent Nation”
Martin Cecil November 22, 1981
This song which PenDell has just sung to us opens the door very beautifully for our service this morning. Come into Thy world, O King of glory. This of course is not telling the Lord what to do. There has never been any indication that there was reluctance with respect to His coming, but obviously there must be a means by which this might be brought to pass.
“Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” The plural is used to describe the means of that coming: gates and doors. We are very much aware that this refers to people, men and women. “Lift up your heads.” Certainly this is indication of a raising of consciousness. As long as human consciousness remains bound in the realm of belief the King of glory is excluded. Lift up your heads; turn the attention upward, away from the structured state of earthly consciousness. The means by which the King of glory comes into the world is composed of human beings whose heads have been lifted up, whose consciousness is capable of operating at a new level, a level which welcomes the coming, no longer insisting upon excluding it.
YouTube Video
It might be profitable for a moment to remind ourselves of some words. The spirit of these words conveys something to us now, even though they were recorded a long time ago: “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
These words are looked upon as being a promise, a promise that evidently has not yet been adequately fulfilled. I don’t think this promise was withdrawn at any point, even though the initial evidences of the emergence of the fulfilment did not find successful completion. This promise is usually tied to the subsequent unfoldment of events, which established the Israelites and continued in their movement out of Egypt into the promised land, as it was called. Here was a nation established on earth, destined to be a great nation. There certainly was some movement in that direction. From this small beginning, one man, Abram, there came the thirteen tribes of the children of Israel, an external manifestation of a nation. The people who composed this nation never really caught the vision of what the reason for their existence was. They saw themselves as an earthly nation and in due season insisted upon doing as the other nations of the world did. In this instance, as was true of others, they insisted upon a king, a form of government that was like unto the nations of the world. At the time it was made plain by the prophet of the Lord that this was an unwise decision, but they insisted upon it. So the Lord went along with it, as He has been required to do, I am sure, in our experience of life so far. If we are still alive the Lord went along with whatever it was, so that the door to the right way was kept open, both for the children of Israel and for each one of us.
The Israelites saw themselves, as I say, as a nation similar to the other nations of the world, except that they felt they had the backing of the Lord. They saw themselves, in other words, as an earthly nation with divine support. A lot of other people have done that too, haven't they? Earthly people with divine support! Some are really convinced that they have divine support in their earthly ways. There never came a recognition in a general sense, insofar as the Israelites were concerned, that they were in fact rightly the evidence of a heavenly nation. Evidently the Lord referred to them as a peculiar people, even a holy people, but not all that much notice was taken of this except to claim divine support for whatever they had in mind. This certainly does not provide a facility for the King of glory to come into the world. It, rather, tends to produce a condition where human beings glorify themselves, saying to themselves, “We are special, a chosen people; we have the backing of the Lord.” So this nation never allowed the truth to be made manifest and, because they did not, the nation failed, as all nations must sooner or later if they likewise do not allow the truth to be made manifest.
So the promise of this great nation was not fulfilled in the Israelites. It has not yet been fulfilled in the worldly sense to this very day. But the promise still stands. It was certainly not fulfilled at the time when Jesus was on earth, even though He spoke of the manner in which it could be fulfilled and Himself provided the way by which it might have been fulfilled. That was rejected, as we are well aware. At one point, in the presence of Pilate, it is indicated that Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world; it did not derive from the human world, from the world of earthly heredity. His kingdom was not from hence. It was spoken of as the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. The word “kingdom” is used, but the word “nation” could be used. Probably this would be more appropriate in these days. There are very few kingdoms in the world, very few monarchies; and even where the monarchies are, the government is not in the hands of the monarch as a rule. But there is government in the nations of the world, so in that sense they could be called kingdoms.
But it was said to Abraham, apparently, that out of him would come a great nation. As we have noted, this was simply seen in terms of an earthly nation. Certainly a nation to have meaning on earth must have earthly form, but the form of the great nation springs from above. It is not created by human beings for human beings. It is a heavenly nation, the nation of God. Anything that is initiated on earth from the heavenly standpoint within the world as we now know it always has small beginnings in the manifest sense. This necessarily must be so because there isn’t any available form already in existence in the world which human beings have made. There isn't anything. So if this Transcendent Nation is to put in an appearance in form it always has a small beginning.
In the records that have come down to us we see this small beginning as related to one person. That is just about it, isn’t it? How else could the Lord start? Maybe He can claim the attention of one person out of whatever millions or billions may be present. Here is an evident indictment upon the children of men. He has from time to time been able to find one person. We have taken note of Abram, who became aware of the promise; however I am sure he saw that in extended terms too. It was going to take quite a while to fulfil, when his progeny would be sufficient in number to compose a nation. Of course this did emerge as an earthly nation because this was the approach necessary at that time. The Israelites were established as an earthly nation with the anticipation that they would awaken to the truth as to the reason for their existence, which was a heavenly one. Then there might be an awakening to the realization of the primary need for the heavenly nation, which was far more important than the earthly nation that had taken form, although the earthly nation might reveal that importance. Of course this never occurred. There was failure in the collective sense. There certainly was no precedent of victory established on the basis of this national grouping. If any precedent was set it was a precedent of failure, a precedent of failure in the collective sense. That having been set, it was not possible to proceed on that basis anymore. The only basis left would be an individual one.
The precedent of collective failure had been established; the precedent of individual victory was still open. And so the Master came on earth. He did establish the precedent of individual victory. He offered to let that expand so that a precedent of collective victory might have been established at that time. But He was rejected. The opportunity was lost on that occasion for anything more than the establishment of the precedent of individual victory. He did this. There is such a precedent. Heretofore there has been no precedent for a collective victory, nothing out of which the restoration of mankind collectively could come. All that was finally established was this one point of individual victory, so that anything that might occur to allow for the restoration of mankind would necessarily have to spring out of this one point of victory. There wasn’t any other way to let it happen.
So in this sense it is true, as Christians say, that this One was the savior of the world, at least He would prove to be the savior of the world if there were those who would share His individual victory. If no one else can be found to share that, then the fact that He provided what could have been salvation would never be known, except in imagination and belief. But we have recognized that individual victory and we have not allowed it to rest in our consciousness as relating merely to Him. It did relate to Him and He did establish the precedent. There is a point out of which victory may come into the experience of the whole body of mankind, but to come into the experience of the whole body of mankind this individual victory must be translated into collective victory. This cannot be transferred somehow to a group of human beings; it was, after all, a precedent of individual victory, not of collective victory. He never had the chance to provide what was necessary to reveal that at the time when He was on earth. It has never been done. There is no precedent of collective victory.
So the only way by which the restoration of mankind may come would be as there is a grouping of people who allow this collective precedent to be set. But they are not going to allow it to be set as a grouping of people. They are only going to be able to let it be set as individual people. If all who are here present in the Chapel this morning as individuals allow this to be the experience individually, then we certainly do have a precedent of victory groupwise. But it is only done because the individuals let it happen, not because by some magic means the group lets it happen. The group as a Transcendent Nation does not exist until individually the victory has been experienced. I trust that this awareness is really coming home, finally, to a few people on earth.
There has always been in the background of consciousness, it seems, the idea that, somehow, being associated with a group, Emissaries of Divine Light for instance, one would then be in position to know the victory. Oh no! One cannot know the truth because someone hands it to us on a silver platter—or on a wooden platter, any platter, even a golden one. The individual must experience it for himself, accept the responsibility as an individual for the experience, as though nobody else existed on earth. We cannot know the victory by clinging to the coattails of somebody else, not even the coattails of Jesus Christ—if we could find them anywhere around. It is a matter of individual experience, each one for him- or herself. Otherwise the truth isn’t known, just beliefs, just hopes.
If there is to be the evidence of the Transcendent Nation, the coming of the kingdom, it is because of participation in the precedent of individual victory that has been set. Then this Transcendent Nation may put in an appearance. We certainly don’t want a repeat of the Israelite situation. That would be a repeat of failure, wouldn’t it?—as though we could somehow organize a program with spiritual backing. It can’t be done; it simply does not work that way. As there are individual human beings who assume absolute responsibility for themselves in the expression of the creative spirit of the living God, in all aspects of their living, such individual human beings proving this out will be found to be the Transcendent Nation manifest in form on earth.
I have been thinking a little bit about Emissaries of Divine Light in this context, seeking to find a suitable definition at this point for ourselves and for other people too. It seems that Emissaries of Divine Light are coming more into the public eye and there are many people who say, “Well what’s that?” It is usually assumed that here is another religious sect, or as it was put in one of the English papers, quasi-religious sect, which means something about a pretense, I guess. Well maybe that’s right, because we don’t pretend to be a religious sect. But here are some words at this point—definitions can change, you know, as time goes on—here are some words:
“Emissaries of Divine Light: A Transcendent Nation emerging into form on earth through people of all nations in the world.” I have sought to use words that cannot be easily misinterpreted and which cannot all that easily be understood, because it is impossible for people in general to understand. This leads into the definition of an Emissary of Divine Light. That one should be interesting. I looked up the definition of emissary in the dictionary and so used this definition to convey what needs to be conveyed:
“Emissary of Divine Light: A person sent on a mission.” That is a direct quote out of the dictionary. It goes on in the dictionary to say it is usually a secret mission in the achievement of some special interest. But here is the definition of Emissary of Divine Light: “A person sent on a mission [Emissary], not immediately comprehensible in the understanding of many [secret], to bring the transforming power of the truth of love [Divine Light] into human experience.” Let me read that again, leaving out the parenthetical portion: “A person sent on a mission, not immediately comprehensible in the understanding of many, to bring the transforming power of the truth of love into human experience.”
Apart from saying that we might be considered to be arrogant to associate ourselves with any such objective, I don’t think anyone could object to the definition. If anything is needed in the world it is the truth of love, is it not? So here are two definitions which might be useful for the present if there is questioning as to what Emissaries of Divine Light is, or what an Emissary of Divine Light is. Obviously any definitions of this nature bring up more questioning, but the answer is fundamentally present in the words of the definition.
Clearly one cannot know what an Emissary of Divine Light is without being an Emissary of Divine Light. This is the sticker with people, of course, and to some extent with ourselves perhaps. You have to be the truth to know the truth. You cannot know the truth and then become the truth, which is what human beings try to do. So the fact that the mission is indeed incomprehensible to many is so for the reason that there are not many Emissaries of Divine Light; that is the only way to know what an Emissary of Divine Light is. Only as there are Emissaries of Divine Light individually is there the nation that might be called Emissaries of Divine Light. Emissaries of Divine Light does not exist on earth, except perhaps as a legal entity in various states and countries, but the reality does not exist on earth, except as there are individual Emissaries. And yet it is the precedent of victory revealed by this heavenly nation, this Transcendent Nation, which then makes possible the collective victory of the body of mankind. If we were to suppose that every individual on the face of the earth had to prove what we see as necessary for ourselves now, we would wait a long time for the victory.
Clearly the victory comes because of the precedent of collective victory, but the precedent of collective victory can only now be set by reason of individual victory, because that is the only precedent we have. That is all that is left to us. It is enough! And once there is this Transcendent Nation composed of nationals who know that is what they are, no matter from what worldly nation they may have come, there can be the precedent of victory which allows for the restoration of mankind. Then mankind can be restored as a body, collectively, because there is a collective precedent. We ourselves, and others who are awakening to the truth, or are awake to it, establish the precedent of collective victory, not because we see that collectiveness as being primary but we see the individual, ourselves individually, as being primary. Unless it happens in me it won’t happen collectively, and we could each say that.
Somewhere in the Book of Revelation it says something about “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.” There is the collective victory, the restoration of mankind, but it comes because of the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and that is present only because of the individual victory of the King. He set the precedent and we are quite capable of acknowledging that precedent in our own experience here and now. As this is done all the rest comes quickly. This has been the sticker, hasn’t it? There have been lots of people who have been willing to organize in bodies and try to experience something collectively, but who has been willing to be so seemingly arrogant as to accept the responsibility personally? That is exactly what Jesus did. Oh yes, but He was the Son of God! Well who are you? The son or the daughter of God? or a miserable, dying sinner? Take your pick!
There is a Transcendent Nation with seemingly small beginnings but capable of accommodating the power and the glory of the King. It doesn't require vast numbers of people but it requires some people to let it happen collectively, to let that precedent be set. Mention has been made of a critical number in this regard. I wouldn’t try to figure out what that is; there is no need. Just take responsibility for oneself; that is all that is required; it’s the only way it comes anyway. Then we will find that the job gets done. The Lord is not going to be mocked.
So, here in our own experience is emerging into form a Transcendent Nation. Individually, to the extent that we have thus far taken responsibility, we know this. As I pointed out before, we recognize each other, even though initially we may not always like each other. But, as is quite obvious, likes and dislikes spring from the earthly nations. The recognition springs from the heavenly nation, and that is all that is important to us, to be an Emissary of that nation. But we can only be an Emissary of that nation because we are a citizen of that nation, because this is our nationality, a transcendent nationality. As this nation takes form because there are indeed individuals who compose it, the gates and the doors are wide open and the King of glory comes in. We have not been waiting for His coming. He has been waiting for us to lift up our heads.
And so we share the victory, first of all as individuals, and because of that, as the beginnings of this nation in the fulfilment of the promises which have been given in very specific ways over the ages. Those promises have been preserved for our awareness now. Of course we only recognize what they really are to the extent that we ourselves have awakened to the experience of the fulfilment of them. Then we know it for a fact. It is no longer a belief, it is no longer a hope. So we share the glory of the King individually and together, that the restoration of mankind may be brought to pass, all to the glory of the One by whom it is brought to pass. As the nation does become a manifest reality because of the individual citizens thereof, then the name Emissaries of Divine Light is likely to change, because it would no longer be a matter of Emissaries, just citizens of the Transcendent Nation.
© emissaries of divine light
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